Conservative Professor

Meet the 2013 KWTP LSC Trustee Recommendations

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Vote for Kyle Scott for LSC Trustee.	MEET the CONSERVATIVE PROFESSOR, KYLE SCOTT. Introducing Houston’s Conservative Professor from 1070 AM Radio: Dr. Kyle Scott. Dr. Scott’s Bio Links to Articles Kyle Scott Wrote or is quoted in: College System Funding Options Available by Kyle Scott Community Colleges Need to Return to Mission by Kyle Scott Go Local by Kyle Scott Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt by Kyle Scott Some Say Lone Star College Bond Not Needed, Chronicle article by Bryan Kirk, 4/25/13 Letters from LSC trustee candidate Kyle Scott published in the Tribune
Vote for Ron Trowbridge for LSC Trustee	MEET RON TROWBRIDGE* Former chief of staff to U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger * Directed the Fulbright Program at the United States Information Agency * Vice President at Hillsdale College * Ph. D. in English from U of Michigan * Tenured full professor * Taught at Lone Star College, 2006-2012 * Presently Senior Fellow at Center for College Affordability and Productivity Drafts Bill Concept for Legislature Ron recently initiated and designed a proposal for a legislative bill that would help low-income community college students get a four-year college degree. The concept would eliminate the nightmare of wasted time and huge expense that community-college students have had to suffer in transferring course-credits to a four-year school and would enable these students to get a four-year college degree faster and cheaper.

Some Say Lone Star College Bond Not Needed

The Lone Star College System’s $497.7 million bond referendum set for May 11 is meeting with some resistance from residents who believe the bond is not necessary.  The bond features a number of new projects to be constructed throughout the LSCS without raising taxes.

Kyle Scott, who is seeking a seat on the LSCS board of trustees, said he has several reasons for his opposition, part of which involves a January report issued by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which projected lower enrollment numbers between 2013 and 2018 than the college system forecasts.

Robin’s Commentary: The report predicted a flat line in enrollments, the Chancellor said it in last year’s Report, AND Enrollment dropped last semester. KWTP agrees with Kyle Scott and Ron Trowbridge that the bond is NOT needed at this time. So at the very least is would be wise to wait and see if the record enrollment was population driven, or driven by the downturn in the economy that had many people enrolling to expand their marketability when unemployment went so high.

Read the whole article from April 25, 2013 by Bryan Kirk of the Chronicle online.

Introducing Houston’s Conservative Professor: Dr. Kyle Scott

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Introducing Houston’s Conservative Professor from 1070 AM Radio: Dr. Kyle Scott

Dr. Kyle Scott, is a rare conservative Professor, teaching American politics and constitutional law at the University of Houston. He is a strong voice for conservatism in our area and is a regular on the Sam Malone Show on 1070 AM as the Conservative Professor. Dr. Scott has his own blog here. He is also willing and able to help us have a conservative voice on the Lone Star College School System Board of Trustees, running for Position 2 in 2013.

I hope you enjoy his commentary and expertise as much as I do!

Robin

From GOP Votes:

Kyle Scott, PhD, teaches American politics and constitutional law at the University of Houston and is a candidate for the Lone Star College Board of Trustees, Position #2. He has decided that in addition to writing about politics he should join in on the policymaking. In running for the LSCS Board of Trustees he hopes to restore fiscal sanity by opposing the addition of more debt and by keeping taxes and student fees down. His first and last obligation is to the taxpayers and the students.

In addition to his four books and dozens of academic articles, Kyle provides commentary on current events for Liberty, Forbes, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, Foxnews.com, Washington Times, and dozens of local outlets including the Orlando Sentinel, Charlotte Observer, Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle and Baltimore Sun. He is eager to write for TexasGOPVote.com and humbled by the opportunity to speak directly to Texas Conservatives.

If you have any questions or what to learn more about Dr. Kyle Scott, please contact him:

Email: vote4kylescott@gmail.com
Blog: http://kyleascott.wordpress.com
Twitter: @ScottKyleA

“The conservative message is not easy to accept or digest because it forces the individual to take personal responsibility for his or her successes and failures, to not turn outward for assistance, but to turn inward for answers. It is much easier to point at someone else and say it’s their fault; it is much more difficult to look in the mirror and take responsibility.”

College System Funding Options Available

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Letter to the Editor, The Observer – Atascocita
Published Thursday, Mar. 28, 2013

Dear Editor:

When there is a revenue shortage government entities seek to sell bonds or raise taxes. Either way the government is asking taxpayers to foot the bill in the long term and the short term. We should be particularly concerned with bond sells because of the debt load they produce. Adding debt simply because it is the way things are traditionally done is not a good enough reason to keep doing it. Cyprus should be a warning bell to every government entity. The strategy of adding debt to fund unnecessary projects is being adopted by the Lone Star College System (LSCS) as it has approved a bond issue to be put before the voters on the May 11th ballot. LSCS is looking for voters to approve an additional $500 million in debt after they just approved a bond issue six years ago. Rather than tacking on more debt and burdening the taxpayer LSCS needs to get creative. There are four strategies LSCS could adopt if it wants to raise more revenue in a responsible and debt free manner.

First, LSCS should tap the private sector and philanthropic entities. LSCS should sell the naming rights to its buildings to corporations the same way large research institutes and sports franchises do. Corporations get their name on a building which builds name recognition and community good will and the college gets revenue. Smaller items can be included by holding public auctions or fundraisers where local businesses and private individuals can bid on items as small as a desk or a suite of offices.

LSCS can also expand its hybrid and online course offerings. It seems arcane to think that hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on brick and mortar when the entire educational enterprise is moving online. Hybrid classes, which are part traditional courses and part online, would serve as a great compromise. If a class is scheduled to meet Monday/Wednesday from 12-2 then it could meet Monday online and Wednesday in a traditional setting. Another class scheduled for the same time and days could then be scheduled to meet in the same classroom on Mondays and online on Wednesdays. This would allow two classes scheduled at the same time to use one room therefore eliminating the need for additional classrooms or parking spaces.

Additionally, since most of the day classrooms and parking spaces sit empty, the college system should find a way to use all the space all the time rather than building additional facilities to accommodate the few peak hours. Some time slots, such as late Friday afternoon, are unpopular among students and therefore attract fewer students. There is no reason to build more classrooms if the college already has some sitting empty. To attract students to these time slots the college system should offer reduced fees for students willing to sign up for unpopular time slots. Most LSCS students could use a break on fees anyway so this recommendation is a winner for everyone as it helps students, taxpayers, and the college system.

The fourth recommendation builds on the idea that the facilities should not sit idle. If you go on any of the Lone Star campuses in the evening or on the weekends there is almost no one there. This is a waste of space and money. But, this space could be rented out to corporations and non-profit entities who need a place to hold meetings, conferences, or training sessions. The fees would create an additional revenue stream in addition to building the college’s profile among the local business community in a way that would benefit students.

Each of these recommendations would require administrators and board members to think differently. But, the way things have always been done is not the only way to get things done. If our education system is to keep pace with a dynamic business culture then it needs to become fresh and dynamic as well.

Kyle Scott, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science and Honors College
University of Houston

Lone Star College Bond Proposal: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Debt by Kyle Scott

By Kyle Scott, PhD

Community Colleges Need to Return to Their Mission by Kyle Scott

By KYLE SCOTT
Guest columnist at Your Houston News , reprinted with author’s permission.

Go Local! by Kyle Scott

Go Local!

By Kyle Scott
Candidate for the Lone Star College Board of Trustees, Position #2
via Your Houston News

It might be difficult to get excited about a local election on May 11, but voters should take notice. With gridlock in Washington bringing governance to a slow crawl, it is the perfect time to go local.

There is no need to look to the federal government to produce positive change when you can do it in your own backyard. One of the key components of federalism is a politically motivated local governance structure to counterbalance the authority of the national government. So not only does the average voter have a far better chance of advancing their ideas at the local level, doing so is essential for a proper balance of powers embodied in the Constitution.

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Understanding the Liberal-Conservative Divide through the Gun Debate

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By KYLE SCOTT, UH professor & The Conservative Professor

The debate that has swept over the nation has now landed in the Lone Star State with the Texas legislature proposing laws that would decrease the restictions on firearms. The proposed measures would make it easier for students and faculty who legally own a registered firearm, and who hold the requisite license to carry a concealed handgun, to carry their weapon on college and university campuses in the state. At first blush this may seem like something new, but as we saw a few months ago at the North Harris campus of the Lone Star College System, students are already carrying firearms onto our campuses. All these new measures would do is to allow citizens who can legally own and carry firearms to protect themselves when the law fails to do so.

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“Big Brother is watching. And Big Brother is the IRS” by The Conservative Professor, Dr. Kyle Scott

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Here is The Conservative Professors latest article, Big Brother is watching. And Big Brother is the IRS , from Texas GOP Vote. With his permission, it is reprinted here for your reading convenience.

Big Brother is watching. And Big Brother is the IRS

If you talk about the IRS don’t do it via email or text—the agency you mailed a check to this week can eavesdrop without a search warrant or probable cause. Since 2009 the IRS has held the position that the Fourth Amendment does not protect electronic transmissions.

The Stored Communications Act provides insufficient Fourth Amendment protections and the Supreme Court needs to make a clear statement against the infringement of Fourth Amendment rights by agencies like the IRS. But unfortunately the Court declined the opportunity to do so on April 15th, perhaps the Justices were too busy filing their taxes, when it refused to hear Jennings v. Broome, which would have allowed it to decide on this matter.

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